What I really love about this episode is Annorax, since finishing the episode I've been using him in the Trek XI forum as an example of a really good antagonist because of the fact that you care about him and part of you wants him to succeed. He's not your standard villain who destroys entire worlds for absolutely no reason *cough*Nero*cough*, Annorax is a person first and foremost and his story is compelling. Even during the final battle sequence he is given that beautiful character moment where he runs into his office to find the lock of his wife's hair disintegrate before his eyes. That's how you make an antagonist.

In previous posts I made comments about how Voyager (the ship) never felt like a character as the classic Enterprise did. Well in this timeline Voyager finally gets the character I felt it was lacking; it held on just long enough to make it through the battle, and the ship's sacrifice saved the lives of billions. It is a beautiful idea, and it almost negates the fact that the episode ends on a big reset, but not quite.

I'm confused about what Voyager was doing for almost 200 days. The only reason I can think why this episode took place over such a long time-frame is that they had the title "Year of Hell" since season 3 and 80 days just wouldn't cut it.

It's a great two-parter, but it is a pity that there was no consequences for anything which happened in the episodes. It makes we wish that Braga's idea of having a year-long arc had been allowed, but I guess I'll have to wait until I rewatch Enterprise for that.

__________________...so many different suns...

"No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away." - The immortal Terry Pratchett